Illusions
by Anna Salgon
Summary: This story will contain bullying and suicidal themes so if you are not comfortable with these topics, do not read. If you can be triggered by either of those topics, do not read! Midoriya Izuku was the main target for bullying due to his quirkless nature and one day he decided to take their advice. After waking up in the hospital he finds that he does have a quirk.
1. Chapter 1

**In case some people didn't read the warning in the description, I would like to again say that this contains subjects that people could be very uncomfortable with or be triggered by. Please don't read any further if you're one of these people!**

He'd always wanted to be a hero, to save people with a smile, just like his idle All Might. Despite this, his fourth birthday came a went with out a quirk manifesting, a quick doctor's appointment and one X-ray later led him to being diagnosed as quirkless despite single joint in his pinky toe. Heart broken and dreams crushed he watched videos of All Might in an attempt to cheer himself up, not that it worked very well.

School became a nightmare to go to with all the bullying, not that any teachers cared enough to stop or even prevent it from happening, while his mother became more worried and stressed for him with each passing day. Most days he wanted to stay home and lie in bed with no cares in the world but those fantasies were always pushed aside as he forced himself out of bed so that he could get ready for school. Each day when he arrived at school he was greeted with whispers about him followed by muffled laughter. Next came Bakugo Katsuki, the unofficial king of the school despite his age due to his powerful and flashy quirk.

"What do you think you're doing Deku?" The growl started him into freezing. Still as a statue he waited for the pain, running away only made it worse despite what his instincts told him to do. A warm hand clasped his shoulder and the temperature rose till his uniform sizzled and he could feel his skin underneath burn.

"Fucking answer me loser."

Deep breaths. "I-I was re-reviewing notes for c-class."

"These don't look like notes from class. In fact..." He paused to snatch the notebook from his flailing grasp. "These look like notes on quirks."

He didn't verbally respond but turned his head in shame. He didn't even know why he was feeling that way, that someone had found out his hobby.

"Ha! You even have notes on what your quirk could be! What a fucking loser, you're quirkless, there's no way a quirk would manifest six years late!" Tears threatened to fall but he refused to satisfy Bakugo despite all the insecurities he was digging into.

"The fuck is this? Heat absorption? A mix of your mum's gravitational quirk and your dad's fire breathing quirk? You don't even know your own fucking father. I mean come on, he's been out of you're pathetic life so long you probably don't even remember what he even looks like. Like he's probably a villain or some shit and you wouldn't even know. I mean I don't blame him, if I had a son as pathetic as you I'd leave as well." He hit the last nail on the head and tears freely fell down his face. He didn't even need to look up to see Bakugo smirking victoriously as the sound of an explosion rang in his ears before the smell of burnt paper filled the air.

"You'll never be a fucking hero Deku, remember that."

By then the rest of the class had settled waiting for the teacher as they watched the interaction, not even bothering to hide their laughter any more. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. The teacher came in after a couple minutes and if he had to guess, was waiting for the tension to die down a bit before entering. The classes dragged on and he could still hear people talking about him and this newest incident despite his best efforts to block it all out. The sound of the lunch bell was a relief but also nerve wracking since this would be the time were the rest of the school would hear about what happened. Quickly packing his things he left as soon as he could and headed to the one place no one bothered him, the school roof.

No one was allowed up there but it didn't matter since none of the teachers saw him as a someone to break the rules and the locks were easy to pick. A cool breeze greeted him when he arrived and he let out an audible sigh of relief at finally being alone. The sun was out with a few clouds dotting the sky and the view from the roof was an okay sight to stare at. The roof itself was ill maintained and looked like no one had looked after it in decades. But that was fine with him, it was a sort of sanctuary for him after all. From here he could spot Bakugo and his lackeys walking around, probably trying to find him, and several others from his class in their friendship groups most likely going over what happened earlier and suddenly the ground seemed rather inviting. Not being down there with the rest of his class, but rather the trip down from where he was. Maybe he would shock his classmates, make them think twice about picking on someone. Probably not, they might not even realise he was gone or that he'd hit the ground till his body started to decay.

A dark laugh escaped him. The temptation to end it all was right there in front of him and all he had to do was take a couple more steps and he'd be free of it all. Free of the constant torture that was living. The thought of his mother came to mind but there where others who cared for her enough for him not to be completely worried. A satisfied smile graced his lips as he took a step forward, two more and he'd be free. It would be unfortunate for him not to meet All Might or become a hero himself, but Bakugo was right, there was no way he'd become a hero as a useless no one. And he took another step. Not to mention that All Might was considered the number one hero, the pillar of peace, the strongest hero. There were probably millions of other people that wanted to meet him while thousands already have and it wasn't like he would remember him, he wasn't special, cool, or strong. One last step and he felt himself fall. He was unnaturally calm and the wind rushing past his ears covered the sounds of screams from below. Finally, he would be free.

Darkness, it surrounding him. Not suffocating like he'd expected but oddly soothing like he was asleep and he never wanted to wake up. Occasionally he'd hear something like a muffled voice echo around him, but he couldn't make out any of the words. It was rather annoying in his opinion, and he just wanted to sleep. It wasn't till later that he began to feel things as well like a warmth on his hand, forehead, or light nudges on his shoulder. Just like the voices it was annoying and he wanted it to stop but he wasn't sure how and it wasn't frequent enough for him to be too concerned about it. Sometimes the muffled voices and the nudges or warmth would come together, other times they would be separate and he didn't know if it meant anything in particular, but he didn't really care all that much either. All too suddenly, light began to return to him and chased the comfortable darkness away from him. Weight began to seep into his body and made him feel heavy, his eye lids in particular. He still didn't want to open them no matter how persistent the feeling became till it became over baring and he caved.

He couldn't see much at first, the white light was blinding. It only took a couple seconds for his eyes to adjust to the light and his eyes were soon open again. While his head still felt too heavy to move, he could still move his eyes to look around at where he was. The ceiling and walls were both a bright white, so was the sheet that was on top of him. Expensive looking equipment looked to be hooked into him with a faint beep every so often that it took a while for his brain to even register it was even there. He could also see a window with drawn curtains and a wooden door on the others side of the room. He wanted to frown in confusion but everything still felt heavy, even his eyelids began to want to be closed.

The next time he opened his eyes, he noticed that everything felt less heavy and that he could move his head and face more freely. The curtains were also open and he could see buildings and a couple trees, even some bird flying in the distance. The creak if an opening door made him turn his head to see a woman in a white coat and glasses enter the room.

"So you're awake again. I noticed that it seemed you woke up last night and contacted your mother who should be here in a couple minutes or so."

He looked at the doctor and frowned, he couldn't really understand where he was and why. The last thing he remember was... Oh. He'd walked right off the roof of his school. Shouldn't he be dead. The doctor must have noticed his predicament and began to explain.

"Almost everyone at your school noticed you falling and one of your teachers called an ambulance while another got the school nurse to try and stabilize you the best he could. After the ambulance brought you away, the police came to investigate the cause but no one really gave anything of substance. Your school is still currently under supervision from the board of education and will probably continue to be under observation for a long time. You ended up in a coma for two weeks."

Of course. It wasn't like the school was going to out themselves for allowing kids to get away with inappropriate usage of quirks and ignoring any bullying. But some how he couldn't quite bring himself to say anything either. Who knows what would happen to him if they found out he did?

A knock in the door interrupted his thought and he turned to look at his mother shyly enter the room before seeing him awake and dashing over and smothering him in a hug. "I'm sorry! I didn't know what was going on. I'm so sorry!" She cried, tears rolling down her cheeks as she held onto him like he was a life line.

He let her hold him but didn't return the embrace. She continued to apologise to him softly till the doctor was able to convince her to let go. However as soon as she did and look into his eyes, the world around him seemed to freeze before he was force to watch himself fall from the school roof as his mother cried next to him. One of his teachers had come over and checked his pulse before shaking his head. He cried out that the body being carried off wasn't him and that he was right next to her, but it seemed that no body could hear him. The world faded to black and he found himself staring into his mother's grief stricken eyes. He let out a strangled sob and screwed his eyes shut, shacking off his mother's arms.

"What happened?" The doctor asked sounding confused. Had she not seen that horrible nightmare?

"I just saw I-Izuku commit suicide." His mother shakily reply.

"Does he have a quirk?"

"N-no, the doctor said he didn't have a quirk when he was five."

"Does he have one pinky toe joint?"

"Ah yes he does."

"Then I believe that Izuku here has just manifested his quirk. It's rare but there have been cases of people believed to be quirk less suddenly gaining a quirk. It's thought that some quirks only appear under certain conditions such as extreme stress. Now we just have to find how it activates and what it does. Now Izuku, I need you to look at me okay?"

He nodded and slowly opened his eyes and looked at the doctor. "Everything seems to be normal so far. Inko, tell me the last thing you remember seeing before he activated his quirk?"

"Well I was looking straight into his eyes before..." She trailed off, not wanting to repeat what she'd seen and he guessed that she was shaken by it.

"Right." The doctor turned her gaze back to his eyes but still nothing happened. "Hmm, maybe my glasses are getting in the way."

The second the glasses were gone he felt time freeze one more before seeing a plane full of people beginning to sink into the ocean. He watched as the people inside panicked. For a second he thought he saw the doctor lady inside trying to help but to no avail. From his place floating just above the water he sobbed at being able to do nothing but watch till the plane finally sunk below the watery surface. And if none of that ever happened, the world returned to normal as he found himself staring at the doctor.

"I think I understand. Your quirk makes the other see their worst fears in an illusion when you make eye contact with them. But it seems that you can't use your quirk if there is something in between such as glasses." He nodded in understanding but that didn't mean that he had to like it.


	2. Chapter 2

It was several weeks before he was officially allowed to leave the hospital since he was still considered a risk to himself. His time was mainly filled by sleep, therapy, and other hospital like activities. Despite all the calmness around him there was always that nagging voice that reminded him that it wasn't going to last and that he would eventually have to go back to school and face everyone there. Many teachers and even the principal had tried to visit but they were always turned away by hospital staff so that he could focus on healing his mind. The doctor always told him who tried to visit and when and he was glad that he didn't have to face them just yet even if he had to eventually.

When he was finally released from the hospital, they provided his mum his medication for him to take every morning after breakfast, a pair of simple black glasses, and several future appointments to check on how he was going along. He still hadn't fully explained why he did what he did the psychiatrist assigned to him and was vague when it came to his tormentors and what they did to him, he still didn't know why himself but he didn't feel comfortable talking about his inner most feelings to anyone.

At home he sat on the couch and began watching the news wanting see updates on his favourite heroes with his glasses sitting snug on his nose. On the dining table was a stack of notes and homework that apparently Bakugo was forced to bring for him while he was in the hospital. He knew that his mother had been through it all to make sure there was nothing that would set him off or any notes that teachers might have slipped in for him to read. He was grateful for it really and was glad that his mum was taking time out of her day to really take good care of him, not that she didn't before, despite what he'd technically shown her with his new quirk. He hadn't tried anything with his quirk yet, too traumatised to even think about using it.

"I'm making katsudon for dinner tonight, did you want anything while you wait?" His mum asked, appearing from the kitchen.

"N-no, thank you."

He could hear a slight sigh and wondered if he had upset his mum but was distracted by the debut of a new hero. Kamui Woods he called himself, a fitting name for a hero with a wood based quirk in his opinion. His fingers itched to start writing notes from what he could observe but forced himself to relax cringing at the memory of the notebook Bakugo had stolen and violated his privacy. The report was over quickly and he was thankful that he didn't have to think about it for very long.

A knock on the door made him flinch and he looked hopefully at his mum to see what she was going to do. "Go to your room and I'll sort this out okay?" He nodded in thanks as he left the to running and headed to his room.

All Might stared at him from the posters that littered his walls and the several figurines lying around. The smile and simple catch phrases cheered him up a little but didn't do much to quench the fear that had settled like a stone in his mind since the awakening of his quirk. Muffled yelling began to fill his ears and he would know that voice anywhere. Bakugo had come to visit. He must of seen them arrive back and was probably forced by his mother to come over, not that it would do much good. The yelling ceased after a slap shortly followed by the slamming of their front door. He wasn't sure exactly why but he couldn't stop himself from crying. It might have been the feeling of being overwhelmed, fear, or just straight up sadness. He just didn't know what to do with himself. His mother must of heard him since she opened his door and sat next to him on his bed. Not saying anything but just holding him close and letting him cry, something that he just needed to do at the moment.

When his sobs became sniffles and his tears dried his mother finally let go, leaving only a lingering arm on his shoulder. "I-I don't know what t-to do any more." He admitted in a whisper.

"It's okay, you can do what ever you want."

"I-I-I don't even know what I want."

"Do you still want to be a hero?"

"I th-think so." He frowned. "But I-I'm not sure if someone like m-me could even become a hero."

"Of course you can. You might not see it now, but you have a heart of gold and all of the greatest heroes need to be able to care for others."

He wasn't sure how to reply, disagree and tell her she's wrong or agree and feel like he was lying to himself. So instead he opted to say nothing and just snuggle closer.


	3. Chapter 3

It had taken months for him to return to school with the previous year ending and the next one already under way. Fortunately he was allowed to technically stay with his class while being at home as long as he did all the homework and assignments on time. During that time the police investigation came to a close with nothing to show for it but the school itself was still being closely watched by the local community.

He had returned to school looking different, bright red glasses that almost looked too big for him and dorky red shoes to match. Looking closer the dark circles under his eyes, partially hidden by the glasses, and the even jumper attitude showed a change mentally; not that anyone cared to look that closely. The whispering started up again and rumours about him spread like wild fire ranging from scarily accurate like he had gotten a quirk, somethings that had been kept a secret from the students and most of the staff, to absolutely ridiculous like he was a ghost haunting the school or he was simply a robot. The whole atmosphere had been tense with not even Bakugo saying anything to him for two months.

Another couple years pass with a few specific bullying instances but nothing that lead to anything as drastic as when he'd walked off the roof. That was until the teacher was talking about their high school applications. Of course everyone in the class wanted to be heroes but when the teacher announced that Bakugo wasn't the only one to apply for U.A. that the situation took a nose dive.

"I'm going to be the only one from this shitty school to get into U.A., so stay out of my fucking way." Bakugo and his lackeys cornered him after school.

"I-I-I'm just a-applying."

"Don't or you'll regret it. I'm going to be the number one hero and I don't need a shit stain like you to try and hold me back." The out the window went another burnt notebook.

He wanted to cry, but that would mean that Bakugo had won. Deep breaths calmed him and he closed his eyes and counted to ten just to make sure. Bakugo had already left by then but it just meant that he could pack up and find his notebook in peace. When he finally found his notebook he found all the writing inside was either burnt or soaked from it's landing in the koi pond. He found that he didn't want to go home just yet and decided to take a less direct route to delay the inevitable question of why his note book looked like it had been in a campfire then dropped in a pool.

He couldn't help but notice that it was a rather nice day with a warm sun, cool breeze, and sparse clouds in the sky. Walking under a bridge he felt the air become damp and cooler and he began to feel a little more uneasy. It wasn't the same kind of uneasiness he got when Bakugo was angry but rather like someone was watching him. So when he heard the sound of a moving man hole cover, he turned before freezing at the sight of the slime villain.

"You'll make the perfect meat cover." The villain grinned before leaping at him with the intent on suffocating him.

His survival instincts kicked in and he thrashed about wanting to breathe again causing his glasses to fall and land to the side. Fear caused him to freeze up and close his eye. The villain noticed and began to chuckle victoriously. The ringing in his ears became dampened and the familiar comforting darkness that he'd felt before returned to him. It wasn't as comforting this time though but it was enough to feel like he wanted to be lost in it again when it vanished and he could feel someone trying to wake him.

His eyes opened to notice the number one hero, All Might, staring at him. His eyes widened in shock before remembering that his glasses had come off during the struggle. But it was too late, the world had frozen and he found himself in what seemed to be a wasteland at first before he noticed that this was in fact a destroyed city. Dead bodies filled gaps in the rubble and practically lined the street leaving him gagging at the sight. In front of him were two people, a vaguely familiar blonde man facing off against a man in a black mask and suit.

"Look at how pathetic you are, you can't even save all these people. You are destined to fall before me All Might. All the successors of One for All will die by my hand and there's nothing you can do to stop any of this." The masked man declared, looking down upon the frail looking blond.

His eyes widened. Was this blond All Might? But he looked so lanky, nothing like the strong and muscular hero. He didn't understand what was going on when All Might fell to his knees.

"One for All's reign ends right here and now."

The world returned to normal just after the illusionary All Might was killed by the masked man. Immediately he shut his eyes but it still didn't stop the tears. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He repeated to the number one hero.

"What just happened?"

"M-my quirk. I-it lets me see s-someone's fears. Th-that's why I-I have t-to wear glasses."

Several minutes seemed to pass before he heard All Might get up and start moving away. At first he thought that the number one hero was disgusted with him for learning what he feared most but the thought didn't last long when the hero returned and he felt the familiar feeling of his glasses being slide into place.

"They're a bit cracked up." All Might confessed before he opened his eyes once more.

"I-it's okay. I-I'm sorry."

"It's alright my boy, I just have to ask that you keep everything you saw to yourself."

He nodded his head vigorously. He always made sure to keep what ever he saw private on the few occasions he'd used his quirk. "All Might, can I-I ask you a question.?"

"Of course, but please make it quick if you can." Suddenly a cloud of smoke covered All Might and dissipated to reveal the skinny blond man he saw in the illusion. "Never mind."

"Well I-I only just got my quirk a couple years ago," All Might's curiosity peaked. "but every time I look someone in the eyes without my glasses on I see their worst fears. I-I don't know how to control it a-and I don't know where I-I should even start. But I-I want to help others, be s-someone w-who can help others with a smile. Ju-just like you. D-do you think I-I can do it?"

"It's a difficult question to answer. A quirk like yours is very powerful but also dangerous, not only to your allies but also to yourself. You would have to put a lot more effort into your training, more so than your peers just to get some sort of control over your quirk. If you're really sure about becoming a hero then I'd have to recommend that you apply for U.A. where there are several powerful pros that can help you."

His eyes began to water, not only did someone finally believe that he could be a hero, it was his idle and the number one hero too.


	4. Chapter 4

It was finally time for the U.A. entrance exams. After being told that he could become a hero by All Might, he began training his body in the hopes of building some muscle and had taken to community service to do so. He started off doing all the chores around his house, then moved onto cleaning up parks before moving to begin cleaning up the beach near his home. It was a big job but he managed to finish the day before the exam. It was a good way to be active and it also took his mind off of everything he still had to put up with at school. He'd also replaced his glasses and gotten a blue pair that his mum thought complemented his hair and eyes. Staring up at the gates almost felt enlightening almost, like he'd found all the answers to questions he didn't know he had until now.

"Get out of my way Deku." The gruff and familiar voice made him freeze on instinct before he was able to calm himself slightly and turn to see Bakugo walking up behind him. He was able to move to the side but wasn't able to say anything.

A sigh of relief flooded him when he was sure Bakugo was gone and headed back towards the exit, only to trip over his own feet. He expected his face to painfully greet the pavement but was surprised to see himself floating. "I'm sorry I used my quirk on you with out asking, but I think would've be bad luck to trip before the exams started." A feminine voice apologised.

Looking up he was able to spot the petit girl that had prevented him from falling and nodded great fully. "It's kind of nerve racking isn't it? Well I'll see you inside then." She walked off towards the entrance after righting him and deactivating her quirk and all he could do was dumbly stare after her for a second.

He was about to also make his way to the entrance when a gruff voice called out to him. "Are you Midoriya Izuku?" The man was tall, scruffy, and looked like he hadn't had a proper night's sleep in weeks, kind of like himself.

"The other teachers and I saw your application and it'd be best if you come with me." The man added before walking off in a different direction. He stared longingly at the front entrance before following the man to where ever their destination was.

As it turned out, he was was being taken to a different classroom and was greeted by another boy that looked his age. "Now listen up you two. I know both of you applied to be in the hero's course however your quirks are unfit for the examination that they are having. Instead you can take the written test for general education department and hope to be transferred to the hero class after the sports festival. That or you can leave and apply to a different school. I'll give you both five minutes to decide, but when I come back I expect answers." The man left the both of them and headed off to who knows where.

He turned to the boy who looked frustrated and wondered if he should start a conversation, but it seemed he didn't have to make the decision. "Shinsou Hitoshi. You are?"

"Oh, I-I Izuku Midoriya. I-It's to meet you."

Hitoshi frowned slightly. "If you don't mind me asking, what's your quirk? Mine is that I can brainwash people into doing what I say as soon as they reply to me."

"That's s-so cool! I-I wish m-my quirk was as cool a-as yours. M-my quirk shows p-people's fears a-as illusions when I-I make eye c-contact with out m-my glasses on."

"You answered me even though I told you how my quirk works."

"Why wou-wouldn't I?"

"Most people don't." Hitoshi paused. "Well from what I can tell, the exam must not be against people if they don't think we could handle the exam. I know I'm going to stay here and try to get transferred. What about you?"

"I-I think I-I'll do the same."

"You two have to actually pass the exam first." The gruff man returned. "The test for the general education students is normally next week, but since you two wanted to be heroes you two can take the tests now."

They both nodded and were each handed a paper test filled with questions from different subjects. There was no talking allowed but they both finished relatively quick. Next was the physical side where they had to do sprints and other typical tests. He was rather thankful for the community service he did now since he was able to put up a decent fight.

"You're two are done for today, you'll get your results next week and maybe you'll be able to come back."


	5. Chapter 5

He found himself standing in front of the U.A. Gates once more. Not as a student of the hero course but rather general studies department. He'd stopped going to junior high after being accepted in fear of running into Bakugo. His mother had fought with the principle to let him do as he pleased and thankfully won the heated debate when she threatened to contact the police with information on the culprits in regards to the incident a couple years back. Obviously they didn't want to ruin the chances of their ace getting into the most prestigious high school and said nothing. Bakugo himself had tried to come over when the news broke that both of them were going to U.A. but his mum wouldn't let him past the door.

The halls and doors were enormous and he guessed that they were designed that way for those who had a giantification quirk. How thoughtful. He found himself walking past classes 1-A where his instincts told him Bakugo was. Apparently this hallway was for those in the heroics department meaning he was lost. Should he head back or maybe ask for directions? Scratch that, everyone here looks like they're too busy and it's not like he wants to talk to anyone in the first place.

Back tracking he was able to get a good look at some of the students heading for the Hero strict like this strict looking guy with engines on his legs, the girl that helped him in the entrance exams who unfortunately didn't seem to notice him, and several others with interesting attributes. He even saw a gruff looking man in a yellow sleeping bag making his way down the hall.

Finally he was able to make his way to his new class, Class E, where he hoped he wouldn't have the same problems he did before. Outside the class room he took a deep breath before entering. Most of the students were already there talking quietly amongst each other and he was given no more than a quick look over by those that noticed him. So far so good. A familiar tired face caught his gaze. Quickly he looked away, uncomfortable with the staring when he noticed that already on the board were the seating arrangements. Looking for his name he found that he was sat behind Hitoshi. Turning back to the boy he slowly made his way over, unsure of himself till he made it to his seat.

"Are you always this nervous or is it just me that you're scared of?" Hitoshi asked, startling him.

"Ah-No, it's just... I'm n-not to comfortable lots of p-people." Izuku admitted., though he was proud that he was stuttering less.

"Good to know. So, do you know anyone else going to U.A.?"

"Ba-Baku-go K-Ka-stuki. H-He's I-In th-the Her-heroics depa-department. A-And you?" And there goes his improvement, he internally sighed.

"Sound's like you're not a big fan of this guy." Hitoshi started. "As for knowing anyone, not really. I have heard rumours that there are quite a few prestigious kids are attending this year."

The bell sounded as he was about to reply and Present Mic walked into the room leaving everyone shell shocked. They all knew that there were heroes teaching at U.A. but to have one teaching them as well?

"Good morning little listeners!" Present Mic exclaimed. "To start with we all need to head to the auditorium for orientation." He added when the murmuring students stopped.

With that, all the students got up and followed the hero down the many halls till they arrived at the auditorium. It looked like they were the first ones here and most people took it as a sign to socialise a little more before everything started. Currently he was standing next to Hitoshi but neither of them really had anything to say so they stayed silent.

"Hey, do you guys know each other or something? Did you go to the same school?" A female voice interrupted the silence with genuine curiosity.

He looked to Hitoshi to answer since he wasn't used to people. "No. We met at the entrance exams."

"Funny, I don't remember seeing either of you there." The girl hummed. "Yurisa Sato. Nice to meet'cha."

"Shinso Hitoshi." Hitoshi replied.

"I-I'm Izuku Midoriya. Nice to m-meet y-you too."

"Awe, aren't you just adorable." Sato grinned and him. "It's okay, I don't bite. Promise." She had purple hair the looked to be tied in two hollow buns and had big, bright blue eyes.

"Sato, What are you doing?" A boy sighed nearby.

Sato huffed and turned to the boy. "Yuki, I told you to call me Yuri."

"Firstly, don't call me that, and secondly, I don't want to." The boy with light blue skin, elf like ears, and dark blue hair rolled his teal eyes before turning to him and Hitoshi. "Yukimura Takanibu. A pleasure, and I already heard your names, no need to reintroduce yourselves."

He had to fight the urge to hide behind Hitoshi with how uptight and strict this new guy seemed.

"Interesting, I've heard the name Takanibu before." Hitoshi thought aloud.

Takanibu sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't doubt that. My father works as Endeavour's PR."

"Unfortunately?" Hitoshi questioned.

"Yes. I don't really enjoy the attention that comes with lots of people knowing who I am."

By now the auditorium was pretty much full and he could see the teachers lined up on stage. Though he wasn't able to tell the others as much when Present Mic took centre stage.

"Good Morning everybody. Please welcome the Principal." Present Mic announced before wildly gesturing off stage where a dog? Bear? Mouse? entered and made their way to the centre.

"Good Morning students, I am Principal Nedzu and whether I'm a mouse, a bear, or a dog is the biggest mystery but the only important thing is that I'm the principal."

Principal Nedzu went on and on for some time. Some of the students had ended up turning to each other and whispering. None of the teachers called the out on this but it was easy to see that they were disappointed in the behaviour.

"That is all for today, I thank you for your attention." The principal finished up and walked off stage with a knowing smile on his face.


	6. Chapter 6

Less then a week had passed and not once has he been bullied or had thoughts of staying home. Honestly, U.A. was leagues above his old school, not that he told anyone. He didn't want to know how they would react to all of it and he didn't want to be left alone again. Sato, though she kept telling everyone to call her Yuri, and Takanibu had joined him and Hitoshi in making a sort of friendship group. He wasn't really sure if that was the right term but he guessed that what it was called didn't really matter much.

"I totally forgot!" Yuri had gasped one day during their lunch break, startling them.

"What is it now?" Takanibu groaned out.

"We don't even know each other's quirks! How could we forget?"

Hitoshi looked between him and Yuri. "Well maybe it's not really important?"

"Wrong! It's totally important! I'm dying to know now." Yuri stood up, hands flat on the table as she looked at between everyone.

Everyone was exchanging glances while Yuri looked at them accusingly. "Fine, I'll go first then. My quirk is called Mimic and it lets me imitate other people's voices for a bit."

"My quirk is Numb and I can withstand sub zero temperatures with no discomfort." Takanibu went next.

"Well, ah um, m-my quirk is called Illusion. Um, i-if I make eye contact wi-without my glasses I uh show people th-their worst ni-nightmares." He managed to explain without stuttering too much. He looked away, not wanting to see what they thought of him now.

"Guess I have to now." Hitoshi sighed. "My quirk is mind control. Anyone that verbally replies to me I can put them under my control." He heard a sharp intake of air and immediately felt bad for Hitoshi who must of put up with so much because of his quirk.

"That's such a powerful quirk! Like you could be a hero with a quirk like that!" Yuri cheered.

"Indeed. with a quirk like yours you could help evacuations with out people arguing, take in villains with out a fight." Takanibu praised subtly.

Hitoshi's eyes were almost comically wide. "You really think so?"

"Let me guess, everyone has told you how villainous a quirk like yours is." When Hitoshi nodded, Takanibu continued. "Typical. There is no such thing as a villainous quirk or a heroic quirk. All that matters is how someone uses their quirk."

"You-You've put a lot of thought in-into this." He surprised himself by saying.

"When you've seen the things I have then you begin to think." Takanibu gave a small tired smile. "As for you Midoriya, there is something I don't understand. You have a powerful quirk. You may not like it but it's true. However you act doesn't let anyone think you do."

"Oh my goodness, that's so true! I thought you were just embarrassed or like nervous about your quirk." Yuri butted in.

"I..." He started. "I d-don't w-want t-to talk about it." He whispered.

"I think you should leave it there. I don't know what's going on but it's probably serious if he doesn't want to talk about." Hitoshi came to his defence.

He was glad that they seemed to understand and leave him alone after that, but he couldn't help but think about if he should tell them. They were his friends right? And they were accepting and supportive of Hitoshi's quirk, but there was something that just told him to be quiet. It was almost like the teachers from his old school were telling him to keep his mouth shut as to not ruin Bakugo's future.

It was after they had all finished eating and were heading back to class early that they ran into All might. His friends seemed shell shocked to meet the number one hero while he was nervous. Would the hero actually remember him? Unlikely. He was just one of probably thousands All Might has saved.

"No way. All Might is actually teaching here? I thought that was just a rumour." Yuki gaped.

"It's true, I am here as a teacher for the hero students." All Might laughed before suddenly stopping. "Ah my boy. I'm glad to see that you've recovered well."

His thoughts paused. "Y-You remember me?" He asked shyly.

"Of course I do. You gave one hell of a first impression." All Might laughed again.

"Oh. I-I'm sorry." He apologised and All Might hummed in confusion.

"There's nothing to be sorry for my boy." All Might ruffled his hair. "Now, I have to be off. Good bye."

After All Might disappeared down the Hall, Yuki squealed. "He ruffled your hair! I'm so jealous!"

"So," Hitoshi grinned. "What did you do to make the number one hero remember you?"

"This I am also curious about." Takanibu added.

"Well..." How was he supposed to explain this when he couldn't talk about All Might's fear. It was one of the last things he wanted to remember. "I-I was attacked on the way home from sc-school. I-I was almost suff-suffocated by the time A-All Might res-rescued me. M-My glasses came off in the st-struggle. H-He had to find them for me." He almost gagged while explaining. This probably wasn't what they were expecting when they asked, but well now they knew.

Yuki hugged him and he went stiff in her arms, not knowing what to do. He'd only really been hugged by his mum. "Sato, you should probably let go." He'd never been so grateful for Takanibu.

"Sorry it was just so sad." She sniffled, not quite crying. "And Yuki, call me Yuri!" She turned to playfully glare at Takanibu who then rolled his eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

It was a normal day in class, or was until the gruff man that had taken him from the hero exam came into the classroom. Present Mic had called him Aizawa but with a closer look he was able to identify the man as Eraserhead and had to bite his tongue from saying anything. The two teachers talked for a bit before Present Mic turned around to look at the class.

"Okay little listeners, looks like Class 1-A is heading to the USJ today and are in need of some civilians to help them. Lucky for you, Aizawa here is going to pick a couple of you and you get to skip class for a while."

"It's not skipping class, it's a different type of learning experience." Eraserhead mumbled before looking over the class. "You, you, you, you, and you. Get your things and come with me." Eraserhead and pointed to him, Takanibu, Yuki, a girl named Chihori Sado, and a guy named Iwai Kazuo.

"Tell me how it went when you get back." Hitoshi asked before he left and he nodded.

Soon enough the five of them and Eraserhead were outside the classroom and were heading outside to where apparently a bus was waiting for them.

"I guess I should explain what you five are going to be doing today. The heroics students are going to be learning about rescues in different types of disasters. All Might thought that it would be beneficial to add civilians into the exercise. Despite the fact that we didn't need more students from a different class, the principal agreed and so here you are." Eraserhead sounded almost bored with them and it was easy to guess that the hero didn't want any of them there.

Once outside the five of them stood together while the heroics students began to trickle out to the bus in their costumes. His heart almost stopped when he saw one of the last students to arrive. Quickly, he had to hide before Bakugo saw him.

"Oi Deku, the fuck do you think you're doing here." Bakugo snarled. Too late. The loudness of their classmate brought the attention of the whole of class A wondering who Bakugo was talking about. "Stop hiding there and face me you coward."

Bakugo was pointing at him now and even his classmates were looking at him in confusion. "Deku? What's a Deku?" Yuki asked, probably trying to defuse some of the tension, but it didn't work.

It took all his strength not to shrink away in fear as Bakugo came towards him. Not that he had much strength when it came to Bakugo. All it took was Bakugo grabbing him by the front of his shirt and everyone knew that he was Deku. It didn't last too long though as it seemed Eraserhead finally returned with the remaining students and didn't hesitate to completely put a halt to the situation.

"Bakugo, what do you think you're doing?" Huh, that was new.

"This little fuck thinks he can get away with hiding for months and then ruining everything." Bakugo screamed back and everyone was confused, even him.

"We don't have time for this. Bakugo since you started this you'll sit in the front with me. Everyone else can sit where you want to. Oh and Midoriya, I'll be talking to both of you separately after this." Eraserhead finalised and all but dragged Bakugo onto the bus with him.

"Midoriya, are you alright?" Yuki asked as he stopped shaking.

"I-I-I'm okay." He mumbled, mostly to himself.

The other 1-A students seemed mostly confused but at least they didn't seem hostile. The one that looked to be wearing a mecha suit started rounding everyone up, asking them to line up in their student numbers so they could board the bus in an orderly fashion. Not that it did much since it was an open lay out on the bus. He sat near the back next to Takanibu while Yuri and Sato sat across from them with Kazuo just in front. He could hear some of the heroic students talking about what just happened with him and Bakugo, trying to figure it out and he in turn tried to curl up in on himself more. He was mostly alright until one of them tried to ask him.

"Hey, Mr. Aizawa called you Midoriya right? So, want to tell us what happened?" The guy had red spiky hair and had shark like teeth.

"Um..." He nervously started. "W-We went-t t-to the sa-same school wh-when w-we were you-younger." All the while he could feel Bakugo's glare burning into his skull.

"Huh so like childhood friends then?" Another with mostly blonde hair asked.

"No way in hell would I be friends with that quirkless fuck." Bakugo snarled.

"Midoriya isn't quirkless." Yuki yelled back, angry that someone was being hurtful to her friend.

He was beginning to feel nauseous for the whole situation. He needed to get out of here. his breathing quickened and he could feel his heart rate increasing. His hands found his hair and he began to scratch and scratch, not that anyone noticed, they were to caught up in the debate going on around him.

"All of you be quiet. You're behaviour is unfit for a hero. If you really want to know then you can Ask Midoriya in your free time and whether he answers or not is up to him and you have no right to pressure him to say anything. Next one to say anything about this while we are here will be expelled. Got it?" Eraserhead threatened, hair floating and eyes glowing red making him look all the more intimidating.

Why though? Why would a teacher stand up for him? It's never happened before. "Holy shit Midoriya are you okay?" Yuki quietly gasped when she looked over at him. Apparently he'd scratched so deep that he began to bleed onto his fingers and forehead.

"I-I'm okay." He whispered back, staring at the blood on his fingers. A few others in the back turned an noticed like the girl that stopped him falling, he really had to stop referring to her like that and learn her name, a boy with both white and red hair, and a girl with black hair and a posh way of acting.


	8. Chapter 8

The rest of the trip had been almost silent and once they arrived the girl with the black hair had come up to him and handed some first aid supplies, though he had no idea where it came from. Both Yuki and Takanibu helped him clean up his hands and scalp as best they could with Yuki joking about how he could really play the part of an injured civilian now. It helped a little.

"Hey Midoriya? I know we haven't talked much in class, but we were wondering if you were okay?" Kazuo asked in concern. Kazuo had almost bright orange hair, light brown eyes that almost matched his glasses, and a sprinkle of freckles on his cheeks.

"I-I'm okay." He repeated, just like every other time he was asked. But again it was more like he was trying to convince himself.

"Are you sure? Do you want Mr. Aizawa to come look at it?" Soda asked, her head tilted but he shook his head. Soda had looked to not be from Japan with her darker skin. Her hair was dark green-almost black in colour, held back in a wavy ponytail while her eyes were dark yellow and snake like just like her two sharp canine teeth, all from her quirk which was appropriately named Snake.

The hero Thirteen took that time to come and welcome them all to USJ of the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. Apparently All Might was already supposed to be here since Eraserhead asked but was simply told he was too busy by Thirteen while the hero held up three fingers. He guessed that All Might must have used up all his time then.

Just as Thirteen was finishing up a speech about the dangers of quirks, oh how he knew, and the proper way to go around practising at USJ a dark wisp appeared before expanding to let out hundreds of vicious looking people. The red head wanted to rush out there but was held back by Eraserhead who explained that this wasn't apart of training before going down himself and dispatching all the villains he could. Thirteen on the other hand tried to get all the students out the door but was stopped by that same dark wisp like substance.

"Greetings heroes, we are the League of Villains and we heard that All Might was supposed to be here, is he perhaps running late? It would be a shame if the welcome party we prepared wouldn't be able to properly greet him." The wisp, no quirk user spoke.

Bakugo and the Redhead charged despite Thirteens warning and they hit nothing as the wisps reformed themselves after they'd gone through. Suddenly the wisp surrounded them and he wasn't able to do anything but felt someone grab onto him. All too suddenly he felt himself falling and he braced for impact, but it never came. Opening his eyes he saw the boy with the red and white hair holding him. When the boy put him down he introduced himself as Shoto Todoroki.

"-and you're Deku Midoriya right?" Todoroki asked.

"N-no. I-I'm I-Izuku Mi-Midoriya."

Todoroki shrugged and he looked around to see where they were. It looked like this was the Landslide zone, but wait.

"Takanibu!" He called out when he saw the familiar face of his classmate surrounded by villains.

Todoroki looked surprised but sent a wave of ice through the ground, capturing the villains before they could hurt anyone. When he was sure that the villains were frozen he raced over to his classmate who was staring at his feet. His eyes widened when he noticed that the ice was thinner around Takanibu, it had to have taken a lot of skill to make sure the villains were captured but his classmate remained unharmed.

"Ah, Todoroki. I should have guessed." Takanibu seemed uninterested in everything that was going on but Todoroki stiffened at his name. "We should try to meet up with Thirteen or Mr. Aizawa."

They all agreed. With Todoroki on the offensive they were able to make it out of the zone and to the central plaza with no difficulty. The plaza itself was a different story all together unfortunately. Before them Eraserhead was sprawled on the on the ground laying in what appeared to be his own blood as a hulking figure pinned the hero. Off to the side by the shipwreck zone was Kuzuo and two more 1-A class students. The villain covered in disembodied hands was aggressively scratching at his own neck, muttering unintelligible things. He couldn't hear from where they stood but they all knew that when the villain stopped his scratching, something bad was about to happen. Boy does he hate being right right now. The villain, surprisingly fast, ran at Kuzuo and the two other 1-A students with his arm outstretched.

"That was so cool Eraser head. You really are a cool hero." The villain seems giddy that Eraserhead was able to muster up enough strength to cancel what ever quirk he was about to use on Kazuo.

It was lucky as they were able to get away from the villain in that brief moment of distraction. Eraserhead's face was slammed into the ground with a sickening thud and he wanted nothing more than to go over and help. Apparently there was a lapse in judgement on his behalf since he was already running over. He cursed himself for being an idiot, there was nothing he could do in this situation. Lucky for him All Might chose that moment to break down the doors, without a smile. It was terrifying. The speed the number one hero used broke the sound barrier but even so the man was careful picking up Eraserhead and setting him down away from the fighting. The winds produced by such speed knocked him to the ground as his glasses slipped from his face and shattered on the ground in front of him.

The villain growled and scratched at his neck again. "Noumu, kill All Might."

He turned to look at the creature, regrettably making eye contact and the world froze around them. But that should be possible. There's no way that thing is human. Yet his quirk activated like it was and he was submerged in darkness, screams and begging filled his ears but he couldn't make out any actual words. His head spun and he felt like he was going to be sick. Then the pain started. it was like he was being speared with thousands of needles all over his body then burned alive and he screamed out in pain. It felt like hours or even days passed before he was in his own body a screaming, crying mess as he scratched at his arms to make the phantom pain go away. Never before had he felt pain this bad, chocking on air and not seeing anything as his mind couldn't let go of what he saw with his quirk.


	9. Chapter 9

The sight of a white ceiling greeted him when he awoke but he didn't remember falling asleep. What on earth happened. In fact he couldn't really remember anything that happened. He felt glasses on his face, but they weren't his, these had a slight prescription to them making everything look slightly blurry. The sound of a door opening roused him from his thoughts and he turned his head to see Yuri and Hitoshi entering the room.

"W-What happened?" He asked, startling both them and himself with how hoarse he sounded.

"You had us so worried about you!" Yuri exclaimed as Hitoshi asked "You don't remember?"

"I-I remember getting off the bus a-at USJ, b-but then..." He trailed off, his throat tight and sore.

Yuri had tears in her eyes and she came and sat in a chair by his bed. He was probably in the nurse's office then he mused. "We were attacked by v-villains and they separated us. You ran at one of the leaders, a guy covered in hands, then after All Might arrived you started sc-screaming. They said you could hear it from the entrance. After you passed out the big purple one wouldn't move and the hand guy got really angry and tried to get y-you. The rest of the teachers came and took down the rest of the villains but the hand guy and mist guy got away. Kazuo lent you his glasses after I told him you needed them to protect yourself from your quirk. I didn't tell him what your quirk was in-in case you were wondering." Yuri explained with sniffles interrupting her words every so often.

It all came back to him in a rush, making his head hurt. Hissing in pain, he brought a hand to his face in an attempt to try and stop the oncoming nausea the sensation brought. "I-I-I u-used m-my quirk o-on it." He shuddered. "I-I've never s-seen any like i-it before."

"Maybe we should get a teacher. This sounds like it could be important for them to know." Hitoshi mumbled.

"I'll go, but you both have to stay right here. No moving or I swear I'm gonna..." Yuri sniffled again before turning and leaving them alone.

"I kind of wish I was there, though I'm really glad I wasn't." Hitoshi admitted. "I probably would've made this Bakago I keep hearing about rip himself a new one." Trying to lighten the mood.

"D-Don't le-let h-him hear y-you ca-call hi-him that o-or he-he'll never l-leave u-us alone." He shuddered a little.

"I don't really care, he can't hurt us especially so with all these heroes around. I don't know what it was like in your old schools but U.A. is different." Hitoshi let out a small smile.

They let a content silence fall between then before a few minutes later the door opened again. Present Mic and the principle joined Yuri.

"Ah Midoriya, it's nice to see that you're up." The principal started. "We were just considering sending you to the hospital for overnight observation when you woke up."

"I-Is ev-everyone okay?" He just needed to know.

"Hmm..." The principle seemed to contemplate telling him. "Thirteen had their quirk used against them and is recovering in the hospital along with Eraserhead who sustained the most damage to the fight. No need to worry about them as they are on the mend and none of the students received any major injuries."

He let out a sigh of relief.

"On the other hand, I have already called your mother and told her what happened and for your safety we would like to keep you here for the moment. Despite not being a student of the heroic's department, you certainly have a way of capturing attention with your quirk. She'll be here to visit you tomorrow after she receives visitor's pass I sent." The principal continued on. "Speaking of tomorrow, I was informed by Eraserhead that you and Bakugo seemed to be on bad terms. I'd like to talk to you about it with your mother in hopes that we can make things here at U.A. enjoyable for you. Bakugo will also be spoken to about his behaviour and given a warning as we do not tolerate bullying, especially from our aspiring heroes."

He didn't know when it started exactly but he could feel tears falling down his cheeks. He knew that both Yuri and Hitoshi were staring as pieces of information fell into place. Rubbing his eyes didn't help much as more tears replaced the ones he'd wiped away.

"We'll Leave you now, Sato, Hitoshi, don't stay too late now." The principal warned before leaving with Present Mic trailing after him, looking over his shoulder a couple times probably trying to reassure himself that his student would be fine.


	10. Chapter 10

The next day came all too quickly and soon enough he was wrapped in his mother's arms, trying not to cry again. That didn't stop his mother from doing so and soon enough they were crying together probably making it awkward for Present Mic who had escorted her here. Apart of him didn't really care though as he was still alive and being held like this by his mother was proof of that. Thankfully the cry fest didn't last too long and shorty after they were joined by the principal who asked them all to join him in the staff lounge.

"To start off with, Ms. Midoriya, I have to apologise for the compromised safety of your son and can promise that on behalf of all the teachers here at U.A. that we'll be doing everything in our power to ensure that this doesn't happen again." The principle bowed in a show of sincerity.

"I should hope so, not just for my son but the rest of the students that were there." His mum replied a little stiffly.

"But of course." A knock on the door sounded and the principal invited them in. Eraserhead walking in covered from head to toe in bandages. "Ah, just who I was expecting."

Eraserhead didn't say anything but it looked like he was tried to bow before taking a seat next to the principle. "Now that all the participating parties are present, let's begin. To start with, I'd like to talk about your quirk status, Izuku. On the official reports we received, it states that it is classified. From my understanding, you were categorised as quirkless when it failed to manifest by your fifth birthday. All the students from your homeroom that we spoke to said you had a quirk but refused to use it on anyone, which is a smart choice from what the class A students told us. Now, what is your quirk exactly?"

He looked up at his mum to see if she was going to answer for him but she just gave a soft smile and put her arm protectively around him, her way of say that he should talk but she'd intervene if it got too much.

"My qui-quirk is called illusion. By making eye contact I-I can see someone's worst ni-nightmare while they are put u-under the illusion." He looked down at his feet and chewed the inside of his cheek.

"And when did you manifest this quirk?" Eraser inquiry muffled slightly through the bandages.

"Whe-when I w-was ten." He debated how much he should explain but the silence held an expecting weight like they wanted him to elaborate. "A-After I-I walked off m-my old school's ro-roof." He added, quieter.

His mother squeezed his shoulder comfortingly as he tried not to show how close he was to crying. "Ah. I remember that case. A real shame they weren't able to get anything from the official case. Then again, that's just what they could publish. However with your testimony, should you choose to, you could have the school put under another stricter observation period." The principal explained. "Though that's not the point of this meeting. As I'm sure Eraserhead here is eager to ask, was Bakugo Katsuki apart of the reason for the extreme situation?"

He stiffened. It was probably obvious but them asking meant they wanted to take action. His lack of answer and the look on his mother's face was all the answer they needed.

"If it would make you more comfortable, we could have Bakugo expelled and transferred to another school, such behavior is unfitting for a U.A. student and can not be tolerated." The principal warned.

"No!" He exclaimed quickly. "U-U.A. i-is his dre-dream school. He-he's bet-better." He added defensively. Present Mic and the principal looked doubtful and it was hard to see Eraserhead's expressions.

Still the principal continued. "None the less, he will be given a warning and watched carefully. You may think he deserves this chance to be here but many would probably kill to be in his spot. I'm sure reminding him of this will help speed this along. Should he speak to you again, no matter the subject or tone, find either myself or Present Mic and we can help."

He began to chew his cheek again but nodded regardless or how little it would matter in the end.

"Next on the list, I wanted to know what your aspersions were, what would you like to be in the future?"

"I-I-I don't kn-know." He admitted. "I want-t t-to help pe-people."

"Truly a heart of gold." Present Mic sniffed as quietly as he could.

"How would you like to help? As a policeman? A doctor perhaps? A hero?"

His breath hitched and he nodded.


	11. Chapter 11

The days after the disastrous training exercise went by slowly. No one was talking about anything else either. Those who weren't chosen to go kept badgering those that were. He had returned Kazuo's glasses and thanked him for the loan despite the boy saying it was no problem and that he hoped the prescription wasn't too much of a problem. His old glasses were found at the scene shattered and mangled from where the beast, the police were apparently calling it Nomu, had stepped in them. His new frames were a lime green that his mother had bought him though he now also had a couple spares at home just in case. While he was at school he was bombarded with questions about what happened and once it got out that he used his quirk, they began asking about that. The attention was driving him crazy, not that he would've said anything. Luckily Hitoshi was able to help him out of this predicament.

"Class is about to start. If you don't want to get in trouble again then I suggest you shut up and sit down." Was how Hitoshi had bluntly put it but it worked none the less.

The peace was interrupted though when Present Mic paraded into the classroom with a "Good morning little listeners!"

After setting down some papers he continued. "Today I have an important announcement! You all have two weeks until the U.A Sports festival."

Takanibu raised his hand and waited till he was called upon before speaking. "Don't you think that maybe this isn't s good idea. Some of us were just attacked by villains." He had a valid point and some of the other students were whispering in agreement.

"Nonsense! This is a perfect time to host it. It shows the villains that we weren't affected by their attack and that we are strong." Present Mic protested.

"While a good point, the U.A. sports festival is a nationally televised event meaning that anyone could watch it, including villains." Takanibu stunned the class with his point with how right it was. "Those villains from the USJ attack may not have known the quirks that were present but should they watch the event they would be able to learn and plan their next attack accordingly."

Present Mic was starting to look rather nervous. "Well you guys aren't apart of the hero class so there's no need to worry alright?" He probably meant the rhetorically but it didn't stop Takanibu from answering.

"Despite not being hero students five of us were already caught up in an attack meant for the hero class. Not to mention that they are studying to be heroes, they aren't heroes yet. They don't even have provisional licenses."

No one could speak against the accusations. They might not have even thought about that when they were gushing over how cool they were for defeating the villains.

"Uhh..." Present Mic sounded. "If you have any issues then you might want to speak with the principal as he was the one to give the go ahead." Takanibu nodded though he didn't seem all that satisfied with the shifting of blame.

"Anyway, the sports festival is designed to showcase the best that students from all courses have to offer. The business and management course use this time to come up with campaigns and sell things, the support course get to show if their creations to potential business partners, and of course the hero course students get to show off for hero agencies for their work week. General studies doesn't have a focus like the other classes however should you prove yourself out there, you have the opportunity to join one of the other classes after the festival. It also works the other way around with those who can't prove their worth being moved here. If you don't want to participate then that's alright but you have to go speak to the principal about it." With the sports festival out of the way, Present Mic was able to move on to the English lesson.

The lesson though still held a tension that had stuck around from Takanibu's observations. The whole class seemed to drift into a mood that followed them through their morning classes with even the different teachers becoming infected despite not knowing anything. The lunch bell rang and broke the spell that hung over class 1-E. Though instead of heading towards the cafeteria like normally did, Hitoshi went in the opposite direction towards the 1-A classrooms.

"Where are you going, if we don't go now, we won't get a seat." You're asked in confusion.

"I'm going to go declare war on 1-A and let them know that I'm going to get into he hero course after the festival of course." Hitoshi shrugged.

"You're declaring war on them? No way you're making yourself into a target!" She choked out.

"Interesting. I think I'll join you. After all I would like to see those I had to fight along side." Takanibu thought aloud.

"Not you to Yuri!" You're turned to him dramatically. "Fine then if you two are going then all of us should." She added.

"I-I could ju-just get u-us a table." Midoriya offered, pointing discreetly in the direction of the cafeteria.

"No way. Either all of us go or none of us do." She disagreed, folding her arms. "We can protect you from asshole McJerkface if that's what you're worried about."

Midoriya shuddered but hesitantly nodded and together they headed to class 1-A only to find that other people seemed to have the same idea and had blocked the entire corridor. Being himself, Hitoshi proceeded to push his way to the front with Yurki, Takanibu, and Midoriya close behind. They weren't quite able to hear the quiet deceleration of war but did here a guy from the other heroics class about not being one-upped. It was all rather disorienting for Midoriya who had just wanted to sit down and eat lunch with the friends he was finally able to make and forget about everything for a bit.

Typical Bakugo threw out insults at everyone, though it seemed different this time like there was something more to just being his normal angry attitude. The boy with spiky red hair, Midoriya unfortunately never caught his name when they met, was calling it a manly speech, what ever that meant, while the rest if the students seemed somewhat skeptical. The angers blonde then noticed him cowering behind Hitoshi and glared daggers but didn't say anything as he shoved his way through the crowd. Apparently Bakugo wasn't the only one to notice his presence as noticed other students looking at him and his friends.

"Midoriya," the strict looking one with engines on his legs started. "If it is not too much trouble, I would like to invite you sit sit with some of us for lunch today. Of course your friends can join in as well. We wish to talk if that is alright with you."

Midoriya flushed at the attention but turned to Hitoshi. When he turned to look at Yuri and Takanibu he saw that Yuri had her thumbs up and was smiling while Takanibu shrugged. Looking back at the strict boy and nodded shyly.

"Excellent. I suggest that we meet up outside after getting lunch since there will be quite a few of us and I doubt that there will be any tables left that would be able to accommodate all of us."

It made sence and he nodded again in understanding before the four from 1-E headed off for, the decreasing crowd and towards the cafeteria. Once there they spotted both Kazuo and Soda looking for seats. Calling the. Over they explained what they guy from 1-A said.

"I think he wishes to speak to us regarding the USJ incident so they are probably expecting you as well." Takanibu explained.

"Cool, I guess we'll see you guys down there. It's way to crowded here now to even find." Kazuo replied before leaving with Soda just behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

By the time everyone was able to meet up outside a third of the lunch period had passed and it looked like that strict guy was ready to reprimand them before stopping himself and inviting them over. From the looks of it, most of class 1-A was there. Obviously Bakugo wasn't there and Midoriya couldn't help but feel relieved at that.

"Greetings. Now that we are all here, I'd like it if we could all introduce ourselves in an orderly fashion. I am Tenya Iida, the current class president of class 1-A." The strict, well Iida introduced himself.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Momo Yaoyorozu, the vice-president of class 1-A." The one that had given him the first aid kit introduced.

"Ochako Uraraka here, it's nice to meet'cha." It was a girl with short brown hair and chubby cheeks this time.

"I'm Toru Hagakure." He had to look a bit to notice the floating uniform with waving arms and felt a little bad for not noticing earlier.

"Mashirao Ojiro." The blonde with the muscly tail added though he seemed a little distracted by the invisible girl next to him.

"My name is Yuga Aoyama and I must say that what you did to that villain was most attention grabbing." The boy directed a wink at him and he couldn't tell if the blonde was joking or not.

"Mina Ashido at your service." The girl with pink skin grinned cheekily.

"I'm Denki Kaminari." If he remembered correctly then this guy had a quirk that allowed him to communicate? maybe something with electricity?

"Kyoka Jiro." He noticed the girl twirling the jack that connected to her earlobes and wondered how they worked.

"It was really manly of you to help Mr. Aizawa like that, Eijiro Kirishim by the way." The spikey red head smiled and waved.

"Hanta Sero, nice to meet you." The boy had odd looking elbows and he had to resist asking about them.

"Shoto Todoroki." A cold voice was next and he recognised it from when they were in he landslide zone together.

"Tsuyu Asui, but call me Tsu." Was the last one from 1-A and she had features similar to a frog.

He wished he'd brought his notebook to write notes but it was currently in the classroom. Not to mention they'd probably think he was rude even if he did have it.

"Shisou Hitoshi. I wasn't at USJ but someone needs to make sure my classmates don't die." it was a sarcastic remark. He was able to tell since he'd spent so long around the boy but it looked like some of 1-A didn't understand and were offended.

"Yurisa Sato, and don't expect me to forgive Bakago for what he did to my friend, but otherwise, nice to meet'cha." As always she was over the top and he had to resist cringing at the nickname. Apparently 1-A thought it was funny with most covering the snickers while the rest full on laughed.

"We cannot apologies on his behalf and I do not expect forgiveness for his actions and as class president I shall do what ever I can to decrease any risk he may pose to you." Iida replied formally and Yuri nodded approvingly.

"Iwai Kazuo. I guess it's nice to meet you all." He shrugged.

"My name's Chihori Soda, I hope we can be friends." Soda smiled, trying he best to make sure her quirk didn't make her look predatory though they seemed to understand or not notice.

"Yukimura Takanibu, a pleasure." The boy introduced almost in monotone.

"Mi-Midoriya I-Izuku." He said, his name almost sticking in his throat. The sheer amount of people paying attention to him was starting make him nervous causing him to shift ever so slightly behind Hitoshi.

Iida again begain to talk. "It is a pleasure to meet you all. We were all curious about you when Mr. Aizawa told us that you would also be coming on the trip, however with the interference of Bakugo and then the attack it was impossible to get to know each other."

"No talking about quirks though." Hitoshi interrupted much to Iida's protest.

"I believe that he meant the likelihood of us facing off against each other in the sport's festival is too high since we do not know that the event's will be." Takanibu intervened before an argument could break out.

"That's understandable." Yaoyorozu nodded. "The less the enemy knows, the higher the chance of winning. Am I correct?"

"Precisely." Takanibu replied, almost impressed if he had to guess.

He was a little disappointed but he could always take notes during the festival or after if he was still participating.

"I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but I couldn't help but notice that there were only nineteen members of your class while we were headed to USJ. I was going to ask then, but, you know the rest." Kazuo interuppted his thoughts.

"Mr. Aizawa expelled him on the first day ribbit." A-Tsu replied.

At their confusion Mina spoke up. "It was totally crazy. We missed orientation so that we could have the quirk assessment and Mr. Aizawa said that whoever placed last was going to be expelled."

"No way? Are they allowed to even do that?" Yuri gasped.

"Apparently so." Yaoyorozu sighed. "At first I believed it was simply something to make us work harder but Okura wasn't able to do much with his quirk, magnet I believe it was, and placed last before being sent home.

"I heard that Mr. Aizawa expelled a whole class one year because they didn't reach his standard." Uraraka added with a shiver.

"What I don't understand is how Mr. Aizawa hasn't expelled Mineta yet." Tsu almost groaned.

"Yea he's such a pervert! I caught him trying to look up my skirt the other day." Mina actually groaned.

"Does he happen to be about this tall," Soda indicated about 100 centimeters off the ground "purple balls for hair, and a weird voice?" All the 1-A girls nodded with varying levels of disgust on their faces.

"Ewww gross! I've seen that guy hanging around the girls locker room more than once! How is he even in the hero course." Yuri twisted her face.

"I overheard Mr. Aizawa saying to Present Mic that because no one is formally reporting it and the guy's passing all the tests he doesn't have a good excuse to expel. Meaning that if his family chooses, they could sue the school." Ojiro sighed.

"So's that what happened to Okura?" Uraraka asked.

"Yes, in the guide for teachers it states that those in the hero course are allowed to be expelled if they do not pass a test. Considering that it was a quirk test, Mr. Aizawa was indeed allowed to expel Okura with out any legal issues." Iida informed them.

"Oh? May I ask how you know this?" Takanibu inquired curiously.

"Why of course. My brother was invited to be a teacher here. He ended up declining so that he can continue running his agency."

Takanibu looked almost thoughtful for a second before nodding. "Dude, does that mean your brother is a pro hero?" Kirishima asked excitedly.

A hint of red dusted Iida's cheeks at the question. "Why indeed, I come from a long line of heroes. My brother happens to be the turbo hero Ingenium."

"Dude!" Kirishima exclaimed.

He was desperate to take notes now, Hitoshi seems to notice and gave him a deadpanned stare that had him turning away in embarrassment.


	13. Chapter 13

Two weeks had passed since the sports festival announcement and the lunch with class 1-A and it was now the morning of the sports festival. Since then his little group of friends expanded to include Soda and Kazuo who joined them for lunch everyday. Every now and then some of the 1-A students also joined them and surely enough he was becoming more and more comfortable with them. They were even introduced to Fumikage Tokoyami, Koji Koda, Mezo Shoji, and Rikido Sato.

He'd also taken to training more than usual. He knew he wasn't up to the same level of strength as the heroes in training but this would hopefully add a little more to make his life easier. A meeting with the principle also occurred where he was asked if he truly wanted to participate and if so what's there anything he needed to protect himself. It felt a little unfair that he was the only one getting this talk but it was probably because his quirk did a lot of damage to himself.

Now it was their moment to shine. The other classes universe them alphabetically had already been introduced and now it was their turn. Over all they prov sly did t seem too impressive next to the support or hero departments, kind of blending in with the management department but soon they would shine and hopefully he and Hitoshi would prove themselves and go to join the hero course.

On the stage in front of them stood Midnight going on about something he was too nervous to properly listen to. So it was a shock when Bakugo was called on stage. In hindsight it did make sense considering Bakugo came first during the heroics entrance exams.

"I pledge, to be number one." It honestly wasn't even a surprise at this point. It did however lack the mocking laughter he'd normally associate with the explosive blond. Did something happen he wasn't aware of?

The boos and jeering of the other students was expected, even other members of 1-A didn't appreciate the targets they now had on their backs. Thankfully Midnight was able to get everything under control so she could announce the first part.

"The first event is an obstacle race." Midnight announced. "Starting over there you will be racing around the arena. As for the rules, no leaving the designated track but other than that do what ever you want." She cracked her whip signalling that everyone should head to the starting point.

The count down was dramatic an tense, fitting for U.A. but nerve wracking none the less. Everyone was aiming to be number one and the tension was thick enough to but cut with a knife. The timer countered down before opening the gates. Students from all the courses flooded throug, getting stuck in the narrow passageway that lead to the actual track. Luckily he had been near the back meaning that he wasn't currently stuck luck most of the students, unfortunately that left him behind everyone else and therefore at a disadvantage. The only option was to climb over the other students. He didn't like the idea very much but he wasn't the only one to think of it.

The first student he climbed up protested loudly but he was already jumping on the shoulders of the next person before any form of retaliation could occur. The closer he got to the exit the less protests he received and the colder it became. Turned out that the ones in the front had their shoes frozen to the ground, probably thanks to Todoroki. Ahead he could see the iced track with much of the hero course already making good progress. Landing on the ice from the shoulders of other students wasn't easy and he did end up slipping and falling though it didn't really matter now that he was free of the passageway.

It was a slippery start but the ice thinning just like the number of weird purple balls. He didn't even want to know what those were for. Ahead of him were most of the heroics students battling robots that according to Present Mic were used in the entrance exams. Probably why Eraserhead made him do the general studies exam instead. His smaller stature allowed him to duck and weave through the separate ongoing battles, though he did stop to pick up some scrap that could be useful later. Some of the wires were thankfully still attached to the sheet so he could fasten it to himself.

The next obstacles in the race looked an awful lot like a canyon with rope connecting the edges to pillars like a puzzle to find the quickest route. This was going to be difficult but he didn't want to give up the metal just yet, not until the final obstacle. He grabbed the nearest rope that wasn't coated in ice and began to crawl with his back to the seemingly bottomless pit.

It took a while but he was finally at the final obstacle in his way. A mine field that when activated caused loud and colourful explosions. It looked like he'd managed to leave quite a few people behind and way out in front he could spot the explosions from Bakugo's quirk. That was when he had an idea, if he could move the mines to create one big explosion, the momentum might be able to carry him to the finish line.

He could feel the stare as people passed him but he couldn't think about that unless he wanted all his hard work to go to waste. The scrap metal proved useful in digging up the mines from below and transporting them into one spot thought the best part would be that he could use it as a make shift sled to protect himself from the massive explosion he was about to detonate. One deep breath later and it went off sending past almost everyone as he descended around the two front runners; Bakugo and Todoroki. The two weren't fighting each other anymore, more focused on making sure he didn't over take them. Thanks to that however, he was able to use their backs as a platform while he used the scrap metal to hit the mines below them, sending him forward and the other two to the side. Rolling to absorb the impact he then forced himself up and faster as Bakugo's explosions roared behind him. With his heart beat drumming in his ears he pushed towards the finish line and hoped that it was all enough.

"And the winner of the first round is Izuku Midoriya!"


	14. Chapter 14

The applause from the crowd was what brought him back to reality. He'd done it. He had won first place and he wasn't even a heroics student. Despite the crowd he was vaguely aware of the footsteps behind him though he didn't want to risk turning around and seeing Bakugo's angered face. Instead he stood there waiting for others to come to him.

Eventually everyone did cross the finish line in one way or another. Surprisingly it was Takanibu that came up to him first. "Congratulations on coming first, you must be proud."

"Th-thanks. I-I'm worried though." He confessed.

"Would this happen to be about Bakugo? I can assure you that he will not be pulling anything while in the eyes of the public." It was a little awkward, Takanibu didn't seem the type to know how to comfort people and it showed however oddly enough, it worked.

Despite the nagging in his head that told him to run and hide he nodded and looked to Midnight to see what the next event would be.

"Congratulations to everyone for finishing. However only the top 42 have made it to the next round, to the rest of you, better luck next year." Midnight announced with a wink. "The next event will be the Calvary Battle! In teams with a maximum of four people your objective will be to capture the head bands of other teams. Depending on your placement during the first game you'll be awarded a certain number of points. The person who ranked 42nd will be awarded five points with each person above them being awarded 5 more. For example the 41st would have 10 points, 40th would get 15, and so on. The one exception is the first ranked with 10 million points."

Suddenly he didn't feel all too well with all attention on him. How was he supposed to find a team now? Everyone was already beginning to form teams. Hitoshi seemed to already have a team consisting of class 1-A and 1-B students though he wondered if they were brain washed. Yuri, Takanibu, and Kazuo placed after 42nd, but Soda. He looked around and saw her also trying to find a team. On his way over he was intercepted by a girl with pink dreadlocks and lots of gear.

"Mr. 10 million, team up with me!" The girl exclaimed, shocking him. "Everyone in the stadium will be looking at you and that means the big support companies will see my babies!" The girl went on as if there was nothing wrong.

"Uh s-sure if y-you really want to." He was able to respond a few seconds later.

"You're funny mr. 10 million. Mei Hatsume at your service." She introduced herself. "Now, who do you have in mind for the rest of the team?"

"I-I was about t-to ask m-my classmate if sh-she wan-wanted to."

Unfortunately soda had turned them down as she'd already agreed to team up with others though she did apologise for it. It was a little disheartening that he couldn't team up with her. Next on his list was Uraraka, then they would need someone with another well rounded quirk but that could be saved till after Uraraka.

"Pl-please will yo-you be o-on m-my team?" He managed to ask, man was his stuttering bad.

"Sure." He perked up and gave a wobble smile before looking around.

Awkwardly off to the side stood Tokoyami and it fell into place. Tokoyami also agreed and they could start planning.

"We-we should ex-explain our quirks," he'd suggested. "that w-way we can stra-strategise pr-properly."

"I'll go first!" Hatsume enthusiastically volunteered. "My quirk, zoom, lets me see things that are up to five kilometres away. However because I'm from the support course, I was allowed to bring my wonderful babies to show off. Like this jet pack and rocket boots, and a bunch more."

"Well when I touch something I can cancel its gravity and make it float." Uraraka explained using Hatsume as an example. "I can also return the gravity like this. But I get sick if I float myself or something is too heavy." She added with a small clap of her hands.

"Dark shadow is basically an extension of myself and can many things and in good for both offence and defence though I suspect you already knew that considering that you picked me for your team. However what you might not know is that my quirk is weaker during the day or exposed to light but the opposite is true during the night or when it is dark." Tokoyami called upon dark shadow who gave a thumbs up.

"My-my q-quirk isn't-won't be use-useful. Um, it-it's called illusion and-um bas-basically when I-I make eye con-contact I-I show someone th-their worst fe-fears. An-and I-I see the-them too." He shuffled awkwardly when Uraraka gasped and flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I am glad that you shared your quirk with us. If you would like, we can keep it a secret especially with everything that happened with Bakugo." Tokoyami reassured and he nodded, not really trusting his voice.

"Bakago." Uraraka snickered after a couple moments.

"Well I don't really know what that was about but mr. 10 million, do you have a plan?" Hatsume dismissed before grinning.

He looked at each of his team mates and took a deep breath. "Currently we-we hold the ad-advantage. We do-don't have to g-go after any-anyone. Ur-Uraraka ca-can cancel th-the gravity on the the-three of us wh-while she uses Ha-Hat-Hatsume's boots. T-Tokoyami c-can be the van-vanguard with Ha-Hatsume on the r-right an-and Ura-Uraraka on the left. I-if that's a-alright." He Andes up trailing off nervously with the attention.

"You're really smart aren't you?" Uraraka asked, shocking him. "Should like a good plan, I'm in."

"I don't really care what we do as long and my babies can shine." Hatsume supported.

"Indeed, I agree with this plan. However you should be on the watch for especially Todoroki's and Bakugo's team. I doubt you need the reminder though." Tokoyami added.

"Yea we can totally do this!" Uraraka cheered with Hatsume joining in.


	15. Chapter 15

"On your marks, get set, go!" Midnight exclaimed and in and instant the playing field was a mess with quirks. The ground beneath them was growing softer and he saw the student responsible almost immediately. There was no time for hesitation if they wanted to keep all their points and win.

"U-Uraraka, Ha-Hatsume! Look away!" He barely managed to move their heads beforehe turned on the jet-pack Hatsume provided and taking flight. Thanks to Uraraka's quirk making them weigh nothing they were able to easily make their way out of the softening ground and escape into the air. However it wasn't over yet. They still have the whole 15 minutes left to avoid everyone.

"To-Tokoyami!" He was able to warn just as Jirou's jack came headed towards them. He knew that most of the teams would be coming after them, but this was just too many. Out of all the other teams he could only spot two going around picking up the headbands of other teams.

Soon enough Bakugo was propelling himself towards them with his explosions, his team abandoned on the ground. Dark shadow took the blast but with what Tokoyami said, they shouldn't rely on Dark shadow for this sort of thing. But for now it, kept Bakugo away who was the retrieved by his own team.

They were able to avoid most other teams by keeping to the air, especially with one of their previous pursuers now distracted in an attempt to retrieve their own stolen headband. The biggest challenge now would be Todoroki's team. With Iida, Yaoyorozu, and Kaminari as the horse, they were a a team not to take lightly. However, he'd noticed something. Todoroki has only used ice which has only come from his right side. It was something that he had yet to understand about Todoroki. From the boy's appearance it would seem as though he had two quirks mixed into one yet he'd only seen Todoroki use ice.

"S-Stay on his right." He whispered to his team. Both Tokoyami and Uraraka seemed to understand while Hatsume just looked a little confused but complied.

The final minutes were now being counted down as his team managed to be caught between walls of ice, the air no longer being a safe haven for them after they had stepped on a purple ball that had looked like a piece of Mineta's hair and had broken the rocket boots Uraraka had been wearing. So far they'd managed to stay on Todoroki's right and he could see the frustration building in the dual-haired teen.

It'd come from no where. One moment they were successfully on the opposing team's right and the next, Todoroki's team was behind them with their 10 million plus point headband. The sound of shattering glass brought his attention to the ground where his glasses lay shattered. He'd have to worry about that later and hope he didn't make eye contact.

"We-we have to get it b-back." He declared, the team turning to face team Todoroki as he made sure to stare at the ground.

There were only a few seconds left, Iida seemed incapable of using his quirk properly and they were closing in. Team Todoroki was unable to escape as He finally raised his head to look at the headbands around Todoroki's neck. However as he grabbed the top band, his eyes met Todoroki's and fear filled him before his vision went black.

A man with fiery red hair and a beard actually made of fire, a man he recognised as the second ranked hero Endevor, beating a young child with dual coloured hair flashed before his eyes before morphing into a woman with white hair and boiling water. He felt sick watching before the cruel voice of Endvour rang in his head. "You will never escape. You are just like me."

The vision ended and he felt sick, he wanted to throw up. There was no way what he saw was just a fear. It explained too much, why Todoroki didn't use fire, why Todoroki had that scare on his face. Maybe it was why Todoroki didn't seem to like Takanibu when they met during the USJ attack.

The sounding of the alarm brought him back into reality. Hatsume was trying to catch his attention to tell him to look at the head band. He didn't turn to look at her, not wanting to accidentally use his quirk again. Instead he turned to look at the headband, it was only worth 70 points. He'd failed. He'd failed the people that believed that he could do this, failed the people who thought he could win.

"Midoriya." Tokoyami's voice brought him out of his downward spiral and brought his attention to a second headband that currently resided in dark shadow's jaw. "It was thanks to you distracting Todoroki that I was able to retrieve the one that resided on his head."

He felt like crying. Thanks to Tokoyami's quick thinking, they were able to advance to the next round in fourth place. After all, he was the one that fell for Todoroki's trick of mixing up the headbands.


	16. Chapter 16

With the second event over with the lunch break began, giving the students who were participating the in final event some time to prepare. The last event was the same for every year level and was a tradition. One on one battles.

He had been planning on finding recovery girl and asking for some spare glasses considering his broke during the last seconds of the cavalry battle. Thankfully he'd been able to avoid eye contact with everyone and therefore avoided using his quirk. However there was one person that he wasn't able to shake before finding recovery girl, and that was Todoroki. The dual haired teen had cornered him in a quiet area of the backstage area but had yet to speak till now.

"You saw it didn't you." Todoroki questioned coldly. It was easy to guess what the teen was referring to yet it was no less intimidating. "What exactly is your quirk?"

He refused to look into Todoroki's eyes no matter how the teen tried to get his attention. "It-it's called Illusion. It-I can see pe-peoples worst f-fears wh-when I make eye-eye contact." It was only fair that Todoroki knew since the teen had been a victim of it.

"I see. So you saw everything I did back then." Todoroki went quiet like he was hesitant to go on.

"Y-yea. It's why I-I wear glasses. Wh-when you grabbed th-the headband, my-my glasses came off and yeah.." He trailed off considering Todoroki knew what happened after all that.

The two stayed quiet for a while after that, Todoroki seemingly lost in thought while he was feeling too awkward to add anything else. He wondered if he could sneak off and find Recovery Girl before Todoroki noticed he was gone, but the idea was killed off when Todoroki spoke next.

"Say, do you know what a quirk marriage is?" Todoroki asked suddenly.

He nodded his head. "I-I do. I-I'm guessing that-that's wh-what happened." He was quickly becoming uncomfortable with the topic.

"My father, the second ranked hero Endeavour, used his power to arrange a marriage between him and my mother by bribing her family. His goal was to have an offspring that would be able to surpass All Might as the number one hero." Todoroki paused. "To him, I am his master piece. The perfect blend of their quirks, but everything he did to have me drove my mother insane. After my quirk manifested I found her in the kitchen. The very sight of my left half scared her to the point where she poured boiling water over my face."

Todoroki was now cupping the scar with his hand as if covering it would make it go away. "She called my left side hideous. After that I vowed to never use my left side so I wouldn't become like him. Yet your quirk, it made me remember things I'd wished to forget."

"Why-Why are you telling me this?" He couldn't understand. Todoroki was pouring his heart out and they barely knew each other. Not to mention he couldn't find it within himself to understand all of it. Sure he'd been through his own share of abuse while at school but after so long of not having a quirk made him think differently.

"I'm not sure myself. I guess there's something about you that makes me think that you'd understand." Todoroki mused.

He gave a heavy sigh, shoulders sagging. Todoroki had just spilled the beans on his past, maybe he could do the same. "You-you're right about that." He paused, not too sure how far he wanted to go with his story. "Do you know what life is like for quirkless people?" It was perhaps the first sentence he hadn't in years yet it felt like he wasn't even fully connected with his body.

"I can't say that I do." Todoroki confessed, obviously confused as to why they were now talking about quirklessness.

"Not everyone is created equal. Only twenty percent of the worlds population is quirkless. I learnt this when I was four years old, when I was diagnosed as quirkless." The disconnected feeling continued and he spoke like he was rehearsing a speech. He barely even resisted the sharp intake from Todoroki. "I'd only received my quirk when I was ten, after I'd tried to kill myself. That's how quirkless people are treated. One of the first thoughts I had when I woke up was that I couldn't even kill myself correctly, how pathetic."

He couldn't seem to reconnect himself back to his body, it was like he was numb all over. No fear, no anger, nothing. He couldn't even fully take in Todoroki's reaction to his own confession, maybe if he was stronger he'd be able to.


	17. Chapter 17

It was time for the final event and those who'd made it past the other two events were crowded around the stage where Midnight was about to announce who would be facing who. Thankfully he was able to retentive some spare glasses from Recovery Girl who'd apparently had a stock for Heroics students who broke their glasses. Except she was interrupted by someone wishing to withdraw, if he remembered right then it was Ojiro from 1-A that wanted to. Another from 1-B followed after with their reasoning being that they didn't remember the second event and therefore didn't feel like they were qualified for the final event.

He shot a look at Hitoshi who simply shrugged before turning his attention back to Midnight who allowed the withdrawals and replaced them with two students from the team that placed fifth in the cavalry battle. He didn't know the names of the two class 1-B students and from the looks of the match ups, it didn't matter too much as he was firstly facing Hitoshi. Should he win that round he'd be up against Todoroki. That was the match he was worried about considering he didn't have a combat oriented quirk and Todoroki knew what his quirk was.

Either way he didn't have much time to think on it as his match with Hitoshi was the first of the round and he was sure that the battle was going to be mostly quirkless considering they both knew each other's quirks. Hitoshi wouldn't be able to control him if he didn't respond and Hitoshi knew he wouldn't use his quirk. Briefly he wondered how the audience would react to such an underwhelming battle in a tournament for the supposed best and brightest up coming heroes. The thought caused him to falter, gaining him a couple concerned looks from others nearby. As soon as everyone had a couple minutes to look over the matches it was time for the start of the first round. Him and Hitoshi facing off against one another in possibly the most boring match of the tournament.

It wasn't long before everyone else was out of the way and heading to their preferred places to watch.

"Now, are you ready kids?" Present Mic called out over the loud speaker. He gulped, his nerves trying to get the better of him.

"Aye aye captain." Hitoshi mumbled so that only he could hear. He wanted to gape at his friend and ask what he was doing. Thankfully he didn't as Present Mic called for the match to start.

"You know only one of us is winning this right?" Hitoshi started. He knew not to respond, no matter how casually Hitoshi said anything. "Now I wonder which one of us it will be."

The two of them ran at each other, punching and dodging. It was a stalemate really with Hitoshi's quirk useless and him refusing to use his own. "I wonder, will it be the kid with the villainous brainwashing quirk or the one that's scared of their own quirk."

It was all a ruse to get him to speak, but it was really tempting. "For someone with a powerful quirk, you really are a nervous wreck. It makes no sense really."

The probing was really starting to get to him as tears began to build behind his eyes. Was this really how Hitoshi felt about him or was it just a ploy, playing on his insecurities to make him talk?

"I can just imagine what people say about people like you." That hit way too close to home. It made him want to rip his hair out and scream at Hitoshi for saying that to him, then again his friend doesn't know. If he wanted to make the torment stop, he had to win and now.

Even as the tears began to roll down his face he didn't let up on the barrage punches, even throwing in a few kicks here and there to mix it up. It was then that he found his opening. Hitoshi was too focused on trying to make him talk that his punches were getting sloppy. Dodging out of the way, he grabbed Hitoshi's outstretched arm with both hands, pivoted his body and pulled Hitoshi over his shoulder and over the boundary line.

"And the first one into the second round is Izuku Midoriya." Present Mic announced as confused cheering filled the stadium.

"I-I don't think you c-can imagine the things p-people have said to me." He whispered to Hitoshi before leaving his friend, was Hitoshi still his friend now?


	18. Chapter 18

He was currently hiding from just about anyone. He didn't want to hear their congratulations on making it to the second round or have them ask why his eyes were red and puffy. Least of all he wanted to see Hitoshi. Logically he knew that the boy was just trying to get under his skin and make him talk but emotionally, it felt like a knife to the back. Maybe it was his fault for not saying that his quirk was an especially sore spot. Then again, he remembers talking about quirks earlier and saying he didn't want to talk about it. Was he just over reacting? He'd never really had friends before, were boundaries something you were supposed to discuss?

Either way, hiding here wasn't doing him any good. He didn't even really know were he was or if he was even really allowed to be there. His next match was against Todoroki and he didn't even know when that would be, and it would stay that way if he stayed here; no matter how tempting that was. He didn't want to be a bother to anyone that would eventually go looking for him either.

He could just see the light from the afternoon sun when a shadow blocked his view. Stumbling back in surprise he noticed that the number two hero Endeavour had come out in front of him. He'd apparently been noticed as Endeavour had turned to look at him.

"You're the one that beat my Shoto during the obstacle race." Endeavour had pointed out in an accusing tone.

Fearing that his voice would give out he simply nodded in response.

"A fluke. You're nothing but a pebble in Shoto's way to beating All Might." The number two hero huffed pushing past, purposefully bumping into him.

He felt the flames of the hero's costume lick uncomfortably at his skin, almost a reminder of explosions that had probably singed his skin year ago.

"You, you aren't the fi-first to speak t-to me like that." He'd caught the man's attention, he couldn't stop now no matter how much his throat wanted to seal itself shut. "The same per-person wants to be a h-hero too. They-they also told me to kill myself. I hope for-for Shoto's sake you-you aren't a b-bully too."

He felt the heat before he heard the roaring of angry flames. While the rational part of his brain told him that the hero wouldn't be able to hurt him with out getting into a lot of trouble, the part of him that was still scarred made him flinch as he gathered the strength to run.

Once outside and away from Endeavour his eyes began to leak once more, something he didn't think was actually possible. He leaned against the outside wall of the arena, not really knowing where he was, though he doubted that it was anywhere neat the front entrance considering he couldn't hear the sounds of any people. At this point he couldn't care less if he missed his fight with Todoroki, there was just no time for him to calm down. The pessimistic thought that he wouldn't have been able to do anything was just the icing on the cake of his mood.

Maybe if he was away long enough they would just all forget about him till it was time to go home. Unlikely as it was, he still just wanted to be left alone. Something that wasn't going to happen if the foot steps getting closer had anything to say about it.

"Midoriya." The voice was muffled and familiar.

Looking up he was rather surprised to see Eraserhead, still covered in bandages, standing before him.

"Midoriya. Everyone's looking for you. Your match was five minutes ago. They moved it back while a bunch of heroes went looking for you."

"I'm-I'm sorry for troubling everyone." He managed to apologise, looking away.

"You're not in trouble." Eraserhead sighed. "Everyone's worried with what happened at USJ."

"Sorry."

Neither of the spoke for a minute before the underground hero spoke again, though not to him. "I've found him, he's safe. He's withdrawing from the tournament though."

He looked up to see Eraserhead talking into what looked like a small radio.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened or do I have to drag it out of you?"

He couldn't help the small flinch as he'd hoped the hero wouldn't ask. For a while he stayed quiet, unsure of where to start. Should he start while what Hitoshi had said to him during the match? Did the hero even really care about his feelings? What about what Todoroki had said to him? And what was he to do about Endeavour?

"Stop. I can hear you thinking from here." Eraserhead said, pausing his thoughts, getting down beside him. "Your classmates came and found me after your fight and told me that some things had been said during the battle and you reacted badly. Why not start there."

He started after nodding. "He-he said things th-that made m-me remem-rememeber things I-I wanted t-to forget. An-And I guess I-I over re-reacted." He trailed off.

"From what you've told me, you've had a difficult past. After coming here and probably just starting to get over everything, my best guess is that he had brought up a sensitive topic an you reacted defensively. There is no need to feel bad about it. Sure your classmates might not know the whole story but it's still up to them to apologise if they do wrong by you."

He looked up at the underground hero, tears in his eyes, and wondered if this was actually real. No one other than his mother has truly been there for him. Was it alright for him to hope that he wasn't dreaming?

"I'm guessing that something else happened between then and now. You don't seem the type to skip out on events like this for a fight between friends." Eraserhead added when he didn't say anything.

"Well du-during the s-second event, I-I u-used m-my qui-quirk on To-Todo-Todoroki." He tensed, waiting for the verbal backlash he thought he was going to receive. When nothing happened, he relaxed a little before continuing. "I-I saw som-some things he-he didn't wan-want me t-to see. We-we talked. He-he told m-me a-about what I-I saw an-and I, I tol-told hi-him a-a little a-about me."

"And what you saw, was it something that I as his homeroom teacher and a hero should know about?" Eraserhead asked, almost leaning in a he spoke.

He bit his bottom lip, not hard enough to bleed but rather sting a little, before nodding.

"I see. We can talk about him later though. Right now we're talking about you." Earserhead seemed to shake off his own interest quickly. "Did anything else happen?"

"I-I ran-ran in-into En-Endeavour." His breath hitched as he felt pressure build up behind his eyes once more. "I-He said som-somethings an-an-and I-I-my head kept go-going back an-and to wh-what Todo-Todoroki said an-and what I-I saw."

"How about I take you home. I'll get Sekijiro, you probably know him as the Blood Hero: Vlad King, to drive us there and I'll talk to your mother about what happened." Eraserhead offered.

It didn't take too long for him to think it over. Home sounded like a good place to be right now, so he nodded.


	19. Chapter 19

By the time the sport's festival had officially ended he'd been in bed trying to sleep the stress of the day away. Eraserhead and the blood hero had dropped him off and had stayed for a cup of tea and to make sure that he was alright. They had told him to take the rest of the week off if he needed it and if he needed more time to just call.

While he was desperate for a nap, his mind wouldn't stop running over time. Thinking of how he'd destroyed his friendship with Hitoshi, let his other friends down, and ruined everything. A small rational part of his brain told him that he hadn't ruined anything but it was basically a whisper in the overbearing negativity in his mind.

He raised his head at the soft knock on his door and watched as the door slowly opened and his mother entered. "Hey sweetie, I know it's been a hard day. Is there anything you want for dinner?"

The normalcy of the question dulled the pounding in his mind but not enough think of an answer, so he shrugged.

"How about Katsudon then? We can eat in front of the tv and watch a movie." Her suggestion sounded as good as any at the moment so he nodded. "Okay then I'll come back when dinner is ready."

He really did love his mother, she was the best mum he could've asked for. Though he wanted to know what happened after he left the sports festival. It was obvious him mum would've taped it, the question was if the recording continued even after he left. If it didn't he might have to wait till videos were released on the internet.

Even then would his mother mind if he watched. Unfortunately he wasn't sure he'd be allowed or if watching would cause more... problems.

His thinking made him lose track of time without realising it till his mum knocked on the door to tell him dinner was ready. Following behind, his blanket was wrapped around his shoulders and trailed along the ground behind him.

Once sat on the couch, the coffee table was brought forward and two bowls of pork katsudon were placed on it. He watched his mother pick out one of his favourite movies as a kid, The Incredibles. It was a pretty old movie; one that came out when quirkless people still out numbered the quirked. However the movie was a classic with great plot and characters.

He leaned back and ate slowly, engrossed in the animated movie. Unfortunately he'd fallen asleep near the end of the film, katsudon only half finished, and unaware of him mum laying him down on the couch and tucking another blanket around him.


	20. Chapter 20

Monday morning and it was the first time he had felt like calling in sick and staying home from UA. His nerves were getting the better of him especially after taking Eraserhead's advice and taking the rest of last week off.

Against his mother's wishes, he had spent last night watching clips from the sports festival and seeing Hitoshi loose to Todoroki hadn't been surprising considering that Todoroki didn't seem to be the type to easily talk even when pushed. Bakugo had then gone and won the whole tournament but still protested the gold medal a bit.

"Sweety, I know you want to stay home but you've been so much better since starting UA, I can't let you throw that away by staying home all the time again." His mother had said when he asked if he could stay home. He knew she was right and he wasn't thinking logically, but it still stung a little to hear out loud.

"Would you feel better if I went with you today?" He nodded and have a small smile to his mum who began to hum as she began to get ready to go with him.

It was weird how the moral support of having her on his trip to UA made him feel better, but there was no way he was going to question the feeling in case it went away. He missed feeling okay. These past few days were hard and he was glad for being able to emotionally recharge; but now the hardest part was actually returning and seeing everyone again.

"Alright sweetie are you ready to get going?" His mother asked and he again nodded.

Together they headed off to the train station, a five minute walk from their building. Once they were on the train it was a twenty minute ride before another ten minute walk to school from the station. All around them UA students walk to school in groups of mainly twos or threes. In the distance he thought he saw the distinct hair of Todoroki, but it was only a flash so there was no real way to be sure.

"Alright sweety, I can't go any further than here. I'll see you when you get home okay?" He gave her a tight hug and was tempted to not let go even as be heard a few snickers from students he didn't know.

Walking into class he saw that he wasn't the first to arrive, the few there that spotted him congratulated him and hoped that he was feeling better now. He was however the first of what probably was their friend group. His insides twisted and his imagination began running wild, thinking if ways he could be rejected. Before his mind could get too far though, Yuri walked in.

"Midoriya! You're okay!" She exclaimed excitedly, almost running over to hug him. "We were so worried about you when Present Mic said you had to leave early. You didn't even tell us you weren't feeling okay."

She said all this while still clinging to him like an octopus and he had trouble keeping up with everything she was saying . "Sato you're going to hurt him if you continue." Takanibu spoke surprising them both.

"Yuki call me Yuri." She huffed. "And don't you wanna hug him too? Its been forever since we last saw him!"

"An awful exaggeration but yes, welcome back Midoriya. I hope you are well."

"Ah y-yea. Th-thanks." He managed to get out once it was clear they were looking for an answer.

"Good to hear. If you need anything then don't hesitate to ask." Takanibu added before sitting at his own desk not too far away.

The panic with in him was starting to soothe. It was strange having so many people care about his well being rather than berating him for his absence. What did he do to deserve friends like them.

"Hey do you know what's up with Hito?" Yuri asked after a couple seconds of silence, breaking him away from his spiralling thoughts.

"Hi-Hito?"

"Oh that's what I'm calling Hitoshi now, isn't it cute?" She grinned. "I still need to come up with a nickname for you but I'll do that later."

"Oh Hito-shi. I-I don't know." He replied saddened, there was still the questions of if Hitoshi still wanted to be friends.

"He's been acting weird since the tournament, all he said after the fight some lines were crossed and he didn't want to talk about it." She pouted and he began to feel guilty for causing this mess.

Maybe he could sink into the floor before class started. If he remembered right there was a student in 1-B that could help him with that. However it was too late to take drastic measures as Present Mic walked into class with a loud greeting and Hitoshi entered just before the bell rang. Throughout class he could feel his friends looking at him but he didn't have the courage to turn and face them yet. No doubt during lunch he'll be cornered and forced to talk. Somehow he was both dreading and looking forward to it, leaving his stomach in a mess of butterflies.

He'd been correct in his assumption. Well for the most part. Yuri, Takanibu, Kazuo, and Soda had come up to his desk almost impossibly fast; leaving him no time to properly think over what he was going to say. Luckily it seemed that he didn't have to say much.

"Midoriya, we are planning to eat lunch outside today and would like to know if you wanted to join." Takanibu spoke up, not giving Yuri the chance to talk.

Eating outside did sound nice. "Uh ye-" he cut himself off when he spotted Hitoshi leaving the classroom with a tight expression. "I-I'll see yo-you out the-re."

They seemed reluctant to agree, but he assured them that he would be fine and he just needed to talk to Hitoshi alone. When they let him leave he thanked them before heading after Hitoshi, guessing where the other went. It wasn't too hard. The cafeteria was crowded and only getting louder by the second. Knowing Hitoshi like he did, knew that the quieter tables were his best bet. Finally after going against the ever moving tide of students, he spotted the signature purple hair if his friend.

"H-Hitoshi." He managed to call out. The boy in question looked at him in confusion.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Hitoshi asked stiffly.

He took a deep, calming breath. "I-I want-ed to-to talk a-about what happened during th-the sports festival."

"I see." Hitoshi mumbled, looking away.

"I-I wanted t-to apologize for-for what I-I said. I-I was stressed an-and was thinking a-about stuff that-that I-I shouldn't ha-have." He managed to apologise to a stunned Hitoshi.

"Why ate you apologising? I should be apologising and begging for forgiveness. I said all those mean things t try and win, I made you drop out of the competition for crying out loud."

"Oh... uh th-that wasn't y-your fault. I-I bumped in-into En-Endeavour an-and he... yea..." he tried to explain but none of the words were coming out. He didn't want to mention Todoroki as the other not had enough on his plate with out him spreading rumors.

"I'm going to kill him." Hitoshi

"Heroes don-don't k-kill people." He protested.

"I know but it wasn't very hero like of him to antagonize a high school student." Hitoshi sighed. "I still have to apologise for everything I said to you during our fight. You have every right to be nervous of your quirk and I exploited that in hopes of winning a meaningless contest. I hope you can forgive me. I also promise to try and be a much better friend in the future."

He looked at his friend with bushes tears and smiled brightly for the first time in a long time.


End file.
